JAPAN'S FOREIGN RELATIONS IN 1941
THIRD DIVISION, BOARD OF INFORMATION
I
In our review of Japan's foreign relations a year ago, we referred to the move of the United States "as the most vital factor in determining our future action . . . not only in connection with Pacific affairs but also with the European War." Certainly during the year 1941, which was the fifth year of the China Affair and the third year of the European conflict, American moves, particularly since the outbreak of the German-Soviet War, formed a principal factor in creating an extremely grave world situation.
In our part of the world, however, long strides were made toward the solution of the China Affair and the establishment of a new order, through the improvement of relations with the countries of East Asia, including French Indo-China and Thailand, as well as the Soviet Union.
In Europe, also, the European new order was emerging with the advance of the German army into Bulgaria, the conclusion of the Turkish-Bulgarian Pact of Non-aggression, and the conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece—an achievement which brought the Balkans completely under Axis influence. On the other hand, the most grave situation since the outbreak of the present European war developed with the gradual spread of war to Iraq, Syria and Iran in Western Asia and the opening of the German-Soviet hostilities—long looked upon as unavoidable—which developed into a bloody and exhausting struggle along the entire front extending for over two thousand kilometres from Finland in the north and the Black Sea in the south.
In the face of these developments the United States decided to strengthen her aid to Soviet Russia and Chungking while at the same time launching on a programme of out-and-out aid to Britain, thereby creating a situation equivalent to virtual participation in the war. The situation was further aggravated by such steps as the passage through Congress of the Lease-Lend Bill, the promotion of Pan-American joint defence; the landing of military forces in
Iceland, the participation in the tripartite conference between the United States, the Soviet-Union and Great Britain, the Presidential order to shoot axis naval craft on sight, and the amendment of the Neutrality Act which enabled American merchant ships to be armed and to enter the zone of combat.
Mediation in the Thailand-French Indo-China Dispute
With this international situation as a general background, our foreign relations during the year 1941 commenced with the Japanese proposal of mediation in the border dispute between Thailand and French Indo-China. To this, both countries replied, on January 24, intimating their willingness to accept the Japanese proposal. Thereupon, on January 29, a truce conference was held on board a Japanese warship off Saigon, and this paved the way for a peaceful solution of the dispute, which was reached after three months of conflict. In the meantime, the Japanese Government had been conducting diplomatic negotiations with officials of both French Indo-China and the Netherlands East-Indies concerning commercial and economic matters and facing a situation having an important bearing upon Japan's relations with the South Seas regions. These diplomatic negotiations, however, were really of such a nature as would bring peace to the South Seas region and would not have led to the alleged "Far Eastern Crisis."
In spite of this fact, rumours of a so-called Far Eastern Crisis were spread tenaciously throughout the world as if with the intention of interfering with or cutting short the Japanese Government's efforts at mediation in this border dispute and her economic negotiations with the countries of the South Seas. This is amply attested to by the emphasis placed on the "impending crisis" by the Australian Prime Minister, the concentration of British troops on the borders of Thailand, the mining of the waters around Singapore, and the holding of a military conference between the United States, Great Britain, Australia and the Dutch East-Indies.
In the midst of this tense situation, the mediation conference for the settlement of the border dispute which had been going on in Tokyo since February 7, finally reached a general agreement on March 7, after having overcome many difficulties, although twice during the course of mediation it was found necessary to extend
the period of truce. The formal signing of the documents took place on March 11.
Japan-Soviet Neutrality Pact
On March 12, the day after the successful conclusion of the above mentioned conference, Mr. Yosuke Matsuoka, the then Foreign Minister, left Tokyo for an official visit to Germany and Italy. On the way, Mr. Matsuoka stopped at Moscow where he saw M. Joseph Stalin on the 24th. He arrived at Berlin two days later and there conversed with the chief officials of the German Government. Continuing his tour, the Foreign Minister reached Rome on the 31st, and during his stay at the Italian capital from April 1 to 3 he carried on conversations with the highest Italian authorities and also met the Pope. On the return trip, Moscow was revisited on April 7, and after having decided to extend his stay at the Soviet capital, Mr. Matsuoka held conversations with leading Soviet officials, the fruits of which finally appeared on April 13 in the form of the Japan-Soviet Neutrality Pact.
It had been a matter of common knowledge that a readjustment of Japanese-Soviet relations was expected with the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany and Italy in the summer of 1940. Since then, negotiations had been conducted between the Soviet and Japanese diplomatic authorities. These efforts were crowned with success on the occasion of Foreign Minister Matsuoka's visit to Europe.
To renew our appreciation of the importance of this Pact, its first article contains the provision for respecting the territorial integrity of the respective Powers as well as for non-aggression, while the second article provides for the promise that the contracting Powers shall observe strict neutrality if and when one of them is made an object of attack by a third Power. Furthermore, concurrently with the signing of this Pact, Soviet Russia and Japan recognised the territorial integrity of Manchoukuo and the People's Republic of Mongolia, respectively, with the assurance that neither of these states would be made an object of aggression. This, it was held, was a great step forward toward laying the foundations of peace in East Asia.
It is but natural that such an international development as the
conclusion of the Japan-Soviet Neutrality Pact should have been a serious blow to the Democratic Powers and particularly to the Chungking régime. On the other hand, however, there were many questions still unsettled between Japan and the Soviet Union, such as those relating to fisheries, the commercial treaty and others. In addition, with the aid-to-Chungking policy as its centre, the Soviet position in the China Affair was a very delicate one and, moreover, Japan-American relations were becoming more and more critical on account of Japan's southern policy, and altogether our prospects then were far from being bright.
Japan-French Indo-China Economic Agreement
In the wake of the peaceful entry of Japanese forces into French Indo-China in September, 1940, it was conceived that an economic negotiation should be held with a view to establishing new economic relations between Japan and the French colony. A conference for this purpose opened in Tokyo on December 30, 1940, and after five months of negotiations the Japan-French Indo-China Economic Agreement was signed on May 6, 1941.
Although an extended period of time was required for this agreement, due to the fact that the agenda covered all the wide and complex phases of economic relations, such as commerce, trade and customs, and that the mediation in the border dispute between Thailand and French Indo-China was carried on during the course of the negotiations, the conference was finally brought to a successful conclusion, thus succeeding in firmly establishing economic relations between Japan and French Indo-China. The new economic agreement contains the Convention of Establishment and Navigation and the Agreement concerning the Customs Tariff, Trade and Method of Payment.
It should be noted, particularly in connection with customs tariff that French Indo-China accorded Japan the most-favoured-nation treatment and allowed the importation of certain articles from Japan either duty free or at a minimum tariff. In the trade agreement also, Japan ensured such necessities as rice, maize and coal while French Indo-China was to acquire textiles and miscellaneous goods. In this connection a clearing system was established for the settlement of accounts and special consideration was given
to the matter of payment for rice. All these are manifestations of the special nature of the new economic relations between Japan and French Indo-China, upon which both countries are mutually dependent.
Visit of President Wang Ching-wei
Another outstanding event in Japan's foreign relations in the year under review was the official visit to Japan of Mr. Wang Ching-wei, President of the Republic of China and concurrently President of the Executive Yuan Having arrived in Tokyo on June 17, in his capacity as the President of the Chinese Republic, Mr. Wang Ching-wei proceeded to the Imperial Palace the following day to pay his respects to His Imperial Majesty. After the 19th, as President of the Executive Yuan, Mr. Wang carried on conversations with the Prime Minister, Foreign, War, Navy and Finance Ministers and on the 23rd, the Joint Statement of the Prime Minister, Prince Fumimaro Konoe, and the President of the Executive Yuan, Mr. Wang Ching-wei, was made public, marking a new epoch in the history of Sino-Japanese relations. Thus the Konoe Statement and the first Peace Statement have born fruit more than two years after their pronouncement, and the nurture and strengthening of the new Chinese Republic has advanced from the preparatory to the concrete stage. The significance of this Joint Statement could not be overlooked, since it was made clear that Japan's policy toward a solution of the China Affair remained unchanged, despite the emergence of the new situation occasioned by the Soviet-German War.
On June 28, the day of the return of President Wang Ching-wei to Nanking, the Japanese Government announced that they had decided to grant a 300,000,000 yen credit to the Nanking Government. Heretofore, the financial strength of the latter, although sufficient to enable the maintenance of the status quo, was considered to be somewhat inadequate for carrying out a large-scale programme of construction. With the 300,000,000 yen credit, it was now expected that the National Government would positively undertake the construction work which would lead to a rapid development of the new Government as local pacification work made headway.
Japan-Netherlands East-Indies Negotiations
While these developments had been taking place, the economic negotiations which had been in progress between Japan and the Netherlands East-Indies since 1940 were brought to a close by June 17.
Ambassador Kenkichi Yoshizawa, who arrived at Batavia toward the end of 1940 in place of Mr. Ichizo Kobayashi, undertook preliminary conversations from January 15, in the course of which he submitted a new proposal concerning the re-opening of negotiations. On the other hand, on February 1 the Netherlands Government in London instructed their Minister to Japan, General J.C. Pabst, to make representations to the Japanese Government to the effect that his Government was not in agreement with the Japanese conception of the position of the Netherlands East-Indies within the New Order of East Asia.
Thus, although thirteen preliminary negotiations and three official talks on matters of detail had been held between the representatives of the two countries since March 17, no substantial progress had been made since then. This deadlock in the negotiations was accounted for by the atmosphere created by the Japanese Foreign Minister's visit to Germany and Italy and the visit to the East-Indies of the Netherlands Foreign Minister, Mr. Van Kleffens.
At the time of capitulation of the Netherlands to Germany, the Colonial Government from its own independent position had revealed attitude which favoured a rational adjustment of the economic relations between the two countries in accordance with the principles of the New Order of East Asia. However, as the attitude of the United States and Great Britain, who together were in a position to encircle the Dutch East-Indies, gradually became apparent, the Dutch colony's attitude again hardened against Japan, even to the extent of showing their refusal to supply materials as they had already promised. In spite of this, the Japanese Government persevered in taking a broad view and all possible efforts were made for a satisfactory conclusion of the negotiations. But, finally realizing that all endeavours were in vain, the Japanese Government decided to bring the negotiations to a close and to withdraw their representatives. Thus, on June 8, Mr. Yoshizawa was ordered to return to Japan.
Recognition of the New Chinese Government by the Axis Powers
Early on the morning of June 22, Japan found herself faced with a new turn in her international relations by the commencement of Russo-German hostilities, but she at once decided to maintain a determined attitude, which was based upon her policy for achieving a speedy solution to the China Affair and the construction of a new order in East Asia as her primary objective. Meanwhile, on July 1, the five Axis Powers, namely Germany, Italy, Rumania, Slovakia and Croatia, formally recognized the National Government at Nanking. This was closely followed by similar actions on the part of Spain, Hungary and Bulgaria. As a result of this formal recognition by the Axis Powers, the international position of the new National Government made a great advance, a furtherance which contributed considerably toward the construction of the new order in East Asia.
The aforementioned 300,000,000 yen credit agreement with Japan together with this official recognition by the eight Axis Powers were two important achievements for the National Government and undoubtedly dealt a blow to the Chungking régime, which was foolishly continuing a futile war of resistance. Thus, various overseas organs of the Chungking régime, such as embassies, legations and other establishments which were located within the territory of the Axis Powers were henceforth to work as organs of the National Government. Also, with the establishment of friendly relations with France, Chinese traders in French Indo-China as well as in the South Seas region gradually clarified their stand and began to cooperate with the new National Government.